Beginnings
I write this column on the eve of my departure to the Middle East on a trip described elsewhere in these pages. The trip was planned in early November, a week or so before the speech by President...
...I refer as well to the fact that in 1935, Jews constituted 13 percent of the Soviet student body in higher education, whereas they are today 1.3 percent...
...July/August is the other...
...But after so many years of sterile immobility, it is wonderfully refreshing to be on a road that might lead us from the wilderness of war...
...Ours is to examine our own attitudes, casting aside those that were fashioned to offer comfort when we stood in a different place...
...Is it not stunning how rapidly we have found ourselves involved in a romance with Egypt and the Egyptians...
...And I rather suspect that these more positive capacities are not restricted to one Arab nation or two...
...Begin has said, we enter now, at best, the beginning of a process...
...if Sobol's photos inspire you to see things in a new way, or to dig out some pictures you already have, please share them with us...
...So you can expect March in about a month...
...It is by no means clear whether our sudden hopes will wither in the weeks ahead, or be strengthened...
...Those events continue to unfold: just now, Egypt has recalled its ambassadors from the re-jectionist countries, Prime Minister Begin is winding up his visit in London and Secretary Vance has just left for his own whirlwind mission...
...Peace is neither a gift nor a prize...
...Our apologies, our thanks...
...I refer, finally, to the destructive role the Soviet Union has chosen to play in the Middle East over these past weeks...
...Just as private citizens do, we find our mailbox is stuffed with unsolicited material...
...Not naively, not taking comfort from fantasy...
...Of late, the Soviet Embassy has evidently undertaken to reach out to American Jews with press releases informing us of the flourishing of Jewish culture in the USSR...
...Ought we therefore not question the rest of the burdensome baggage we have carried these many years, listen more carefully to the voices of relative reason in every quarter, stop, once and for all, the tedious and trivial game of searching for confirmation of our grimmest fears in order that we may say, "See, we told you so...
...Until then, enjoy...
...The trip was planned in early November, a week or so before the speech by President Sadat in which he proposed his trip to Jerusalem, and, therefore, before the stunning events of recent weeks...
...Finally, a quick reminder: this is our regular January/February issue, one of two each year which combine two months...
...But my own experience teaches that amateurs can often come up with compelling photographs as well...
...With responsible leadership, Syrian parents and Jordanian parents who wish for something better for themselves and for their children could also come to cheer courageous peacemakers in their nations...
...The photographs by Richard Sobol which you will find in this issue are...
...This isn't a contest, it's an invitation...
...In the past, I've used this space to encourage our readers to purchase gift subscriptions to moment, to write more letters to the editor, and for sundry other solicitations, all of which I hereby renew, with an addition that I hope will prove inviting...
...But one thing is already clear, and it is time for us to know it, and to translate the knowledge into our perception of the world...
...Against that background, I think it entirely appropriate to refer to the press releases we've been getting as authentic junk mail...
...Israel confronts a difficult challenge now, and so do we...
...As Mr...
...Today's mail, for example, brings a three pager entitled "USSR: New Books by Jewish Writers...
...Yet a part of our traditional stereotype has now, almost overnight, been destroyed...
...And since photography is, these days, such a popular hobby, I'd like to encourage our readers to submit their favorite photos of Jewish life for possible publication in our pages...
...Because of my own travel schedule, it will be more than a month before these words reach our readers, and it would be folly to play prophet at this unsteady point...
...Had anyone predicted such a sudden turn before November 9, he would have been dismissed with pity or contempt...
...A double oversight in our last issue: we neglected to note that the photos of Abba Eban were the work of Michael Fein, the photos of b'nei mitz-vah at the Wall, of Mike Goldberg...
...Worse yet, this year not a single'Jew was admitted to the University of Moscow...
...We may well lament the Arab capacity for hatred and resentment, but it is time as well to note the Arab capacity for fatigue, for mourning, for life...
...I refer to the information presented in William Ko-rey's article elsewhere in these pages...
...there is a way to go yet before we reach its end...
...it is an earning, and there is work, good work, at last, and hard, for all of us to do...
...the delightful work of a professional...
...Jews in general, Israelis in particular, are not the only people who are tired of war...
...I cannot refrain from observing that this public relations campaign is happening at the same time that we are" becoming freshly aware of Soviet repression of the Jews...
Vol. 3 • January 1978 • No. 3
